Chapter 1622: trial
The first questions asked were all fairly common and related to identity.
Asking these questions is, of course, to ensure the proper functioning of the lie detector.
At this moment, the female interrogator stared at the head of the MyCOS family and asked, "Did your MyCOS family know in advance that the interstellar cruise ship agreed upon by our Dragon Star Empire delegation would be attacked?"
Upon hearing this question, the head of the Max family immediately looked nervous and then shook his head repeatedly, saying, "I really don't know anything about this."
The attack on your delegation's starship has absolutely nothing to do with our Max family.
"I'm just a marquis, how could I possibly do such a thing?"
"Okay, remember what I just said."
"Just answer my questions; no further explanation is needed," the female officer said in a deep voice.
The head of the Max family fell silent, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Marshal Medusa frowned slightly as she watched this scene.
The vice-captain next to him immediately said, "He's very nervous and sweating. Is that a sign of guilt?"
Marshal Medusa shook her head and said, "No, this actually shows that he may really not know about this."
Because most people get nervous when facing interrogation, even if they haven't done anything wrong. But facing such a situation, and being interrogated by a powerful figure, could even involve their own life or the lives of their family.
If he doesn't show any sign of nervousness at all.
That's when he's the one who's suspicious.
"You know so much about this?" The vice-captain looked at Marshal Medusa with surprise.
Marshal Medusa glanced at the vice-captain she had valued and cultivated; she was not one of the people who had followed her out of the Black Reef region.
Naturally, he was unaware of some of his past events.
She began by saying, "Back when I was still in the Black Reef Starfield, as the leader, I naturally needed to discern whether the people under my command were trustworthy."
And whether they lied to me.
Over time, people naturally develop their own methods for judging character.
So that's what happened.
The vice-captain looked at the head of the MyCOS family in the video and said in surprise, "Does that mean our lead has gone cold again?"
Or is there some problem with the investigation, and it actually has nothing to do with the head of the MyCOS family?
Marshal Medusa remained silent.
This is in the interrogation room.
The female officer in charge of interrogation posed another important question: "Have you ever purchased a single-soldier frost cannon weapon from the Burns interstellar civilization?"
Upon hearing this question, the head of the Max family was visibly taken aback for a moment, then he pondered and said, "Individual heavy artillery weapons?"
Let me think about it...
"It was at a banquet about three years ago that an intergalactic trader bought this item at a black market auction."
Then, at that banquet, I presented this to you as a gift.
"And you helped him smuggle a batch of goods into the Maihas Interstellar Empire, from which you also received a ten percent profit," the interrogating officer recounted.
Upon hearing this part of the content.
The head of the Max family looked shocked and guilty, then said incredulously, "You...you even found out about these things?"
“We don’t care about your smuggling activities; that’s not our responsibility, and we won’t spread them.”
"We just want to know if you still have this individual frost heavy cannon that was given to you, or if you gave it to someone else!" The female officer in charge of the interrogation stared at the head of the MyCOS family opposite her and asked.
Upon hearing this question...
The head of the MyCOS family hesitated for a moment, his eyes somewhat unfocused, as if he was pondering something.
As the head of a family, he naturally sensed something was amiss.
The other party values this individual frost heavy cannon so much, and they even came to him because of the incident of attacking the Dragon Star Empire's envoy starship.
The connection between these two things suggests that the attacker used this weapon during the attack, and that evidence has been found by the people of the Dragon Star Empire.
That's why I followed this clue all the way to where I am today.
"I advise you to honestly confess everything you know."
I think you've already seen the attitude of our Xiaolong Interstellar Empire.
No matter who is involved in this incident, we must investigate it thoroughly and make the mastermind behind it pay the price.
Let alone a marquis like you, even if there were members of the royal family behind you, we must investigate thoroughly!
If you don't confess now, you'll have to consider the consequences yourself.
We will release information about some of the things we find out during our investigations, such as the smuggling you are involved in.
Furthermore, from now on, how will our Xiaolong Interstellar Empire and all interstellar forces that cooperate with us handle our relationship with your family?
I think you should be able to foresee this.
Although your Mahas Star Empire has not formally established diplomatic relations with our Xiaolong Star Empire, you have had considerable interstellar trade with us directly or indirectly before that.
Furthermore, you believe that after we established the Universal Trade Alliance...
Do you think those nobles and gentry of your Majas interstellar empire wouldn't cooperate with us?
By then, even if your daughter marries the second prince and gains access to the royal family.
"But when faced with absolute self-interest, what do you think your family's fate will be?" The interrogating officer's tone was very calm.
There were no words or tones of violence in the conversation, but to the head of the Max family, it was as if the other party had already pointed a gun at his head.
The next moment felt as if his head had been separated from his body.
Every second felt incredibly long to the head of the Max family at that moment.
He was constantly thinking, weighing the pros and cons.
He swallowed hard, then tentatively asked, "Could you give me a... a little time to think about it..."
"consider?
Are you thinking that your power behind the scenes will get you out of here?
If that's what you're thinking about, then no matter how long you consider it, it won't make a difference.
Until we receive accurate intelligence from you, we will not let you go, not even if your emperor intervenes.
As for how long you want to consider it, that's your business.
However, our patience is limited.
"If you make us lose patience, then even if you eventually tell us the answer, you will suffer consequences that will make you and your family regret it," the interrogating officer said coldly.
The head of the MyCOS family felt like he was standing on the edge of a cliff, and any wrong choice could plunge him and his family into the abyss!
The female officer in charge of the interrogation didn't ask any more questions after that, as if they really didn't care about the matter.
This situation, on the contrary, made the head of the MyCOS family extremely anxious.
Because if the other party is in a hurry to find his clues, then he can actually delay and stall for time.
But if that's their attitude now, he really needs to reconsider.
Although his smuggling activities weren't very serious, if word got out, it would definitely have a negative impact.
But...
After much hesitation.
"Um... if I told you who I gave this to."
Can you keep this a secret for me?
I know that I was brought here to investigate this matter; everyone knows that.
"This is hard to hide, but I still hope that you at least don't admit it." The head of the Max family was giving himself a way out.
It's probably the person he's about to confess to who he can't afford to mess with.
But compared to the fact that outsiders know about your smuggling activities, and that the Dragon Star Empire holds a grudge and puts you on their blacklist, it's not so bad.
The impact of confessing is relatively small.
Furthermore, as long as the Xiaolong Interstellar Empire does not release the investigation results, and he also refuses to admit what he confessed here, even if the other party knows that he confessed, they will not be able to openly break ties with him.
This situation is relatively acceptable.
“I can guarantee that.” The female officer nods, agreeing to the request.
The head of the MyCOS family took a deep breath, seemingly still quite conflicted.
But looking at the cold-faced female officer opposite him, he steeled himself and said, "The individual frost heavy cannon you mentioned was indeed sent to me."
I've been collecting it for a year and a half.
About a year ago, when I was entertaining a distinguished guest, I took him on a tour of my collection room.
I was thinking of giving him some gifts to get closer to him, and then he took a liking to this single-soldier frost heavy cannon, so I naturally gave it to him.
This...this...this is Duke Chomay.”
When the head of the Max family uttered this name, it seemed as if he had used up all his strength.
"Do you know whether Duke Chomai gave this item to someone else after giving it to him?" the interrogating officer asked.
The head of the Max family shook his head and said, "I don't know about that."
Afterwards, the female officer asked a few more questions, and the interrogation came to an end.
"Thank you for your cooperation. Our people will take you back to your castle shortly."
"Our fleet will also withdraw." After saying this, the female officer left the interrogation room.
The head of the Max family sighed and sat obediently in his chair to await further instructions.
After that, the female soldier who brought him up took him back down, and the whole process took less than an hour.
But to him and outsiders, that one hour felt like an eternity.
On the bridge
Upon receiving the information about Duke Chomai, Marshal Medusa's vice-captain immediately retrieved Duke Chomai's information and presented it to Marshal Medusa.
He then stated, "This is the information we've compiled about Duke Chomay through the networks of the Mehs Star Empire and our Ghost Scouts' investigations."
Duke Chaumet was not actually a duke with real power.
Within the Majas interstellar empire, there are currently nearly sixty individuals holding the title of Duke, but of these sixty, only ten truly wield real power.
These ten dukes are also known by the people of the Mahas Star Empire as the Ten Dukes of Mahas.
Duke Chaumet was not one of them.
However, Duke Chomai is now a close confidant of the Second Prince. Some people suspect that this is because Duke Chomai's family is not a powerful family, which is why he was chosen by the Second Prince to become his confidant.
Because this Duke Jomay was very honest and simple, and although he was not a duke with real power, he had been involved in the upper echelons of the Mahas interstellar empire for many years, so he naturally had some connections.
In addition, although he himself is not a particularly outstanding talent, he also has no flaws.
Such a candidate, coupled with the fact that he holds the title of Duke but lacks real power, might have become the most suitable confidant in the eyes of the Second Prince.
Duke Chomay did work very hard after following the Second Prince. Although he did not have any outstanding achievements, he did not make any major mistakes either.
Furthermore, with the Second Prince as his backer, Duke Chomai gained some prestige.
However, most people believe that Duke Chomai was merely riding on the coattails of the Second Prince, so Duke Chomai was seen as a stepping stone, a way to climb the social ladder through his connection with the Second Prince.
This led many people to send gifts to Duke Chomai, invite him to banquets, and try to build relationships with him.
But their real purpose was to extract information about the Second Prince from Duke Chomai, or to establish connections with the Second Prince.
After all, the Second Prince is widely known as the future Crown Prince.
If the Second Prince inherits the Mehasian Interstellar Empire in the future, then Duke Jomai, who has always followed him, will certainly have worked hard even if he has not made any great contributions. Therefore, Duke Jomai will definitely be given a good position.
..."
Marshal Medusa looked at the important and detailed intelligence information about Duke Chomai in front of her, while also listening to some information that her subordinates had condensed.
"Duke Chomai... the Second Prince."
"All of this seems to imply that the Second Prince is the mastermind behind this attack," Marshal Medusa said, narrowing her eyes.
The vice-captain nodded: "Judging from this evidence, it is indeed very obvious."
If Duke Chomay were the mastermind, the possibility would be extremely small.
Or perhaps it's just that Duke Chomay was too good at hiding his true abilities.
On the contrary, it's highly likely that the Second Prince, whom he has always been loyal to, is the mastermind behind this.
Marshal Medusa pondered and said, "Sometimes, the most likely thing is that they are deliberately responding to our bait."
"A decoy?" the vice-captain asked in surprise.
Marshal Medusa raised her hand, and a special'star map' appeared before everyone.
This is a clue diagram.
The diagram above shows all the clues they have gathered so far regarding this incident.